Patriots defeat Cobras to improve to 2-0

Fort Dorchester running back Matt Murray cuts up field for a gain Friday. ROGER LEE/JOURNAL SCENE

The Fort Dorchester offense shined in the first half Friday and the Patriot defense shined in the second as the Fort earned a 35-14 win over Cane Bay.The Patriots (2-0) scored three first-half touchdowns and held the Cobras (0-2) to 54 yards of offense in the second half. Fort Dorchester’s offense outgained Cane Bay’s offense 349 yards to 167 in the game, but the Cobras won the turnover battle and made big plays on special teams.“Cane Bay played well and we still got the win so I’m happy with that,” Fort Dorchester coach Steve LaPrad said. “Our kids played hard. We moved the ball well and our defense played like we expect it to in the second half, but we need to clean some things up. Hopefully with a good week of practice we can straighten the other things out.”Junior quarterback Kobe Garrett completed 12 of 16 pass attempts for approximately 200 yards and four touchdowns.Receivers Joseph Hutchinson, Rashad Palmer, D’Monte Bailey and Diondre Champaigne all had touchdown receptions for the Fort. Palmer’s came on a 69-yard play that involved a lot of yards after the catch. Bailey outleaped a Cobra defensive back in the end zone to secure his 34-yard touchdown reception, which put the Fort up 28-14 with Riley Rozanski’s PAT kick late in the third quarter.Garrett and running backs Matt Murray and Nahshon Cyrus combined for approximately 200 rushing yards. Murray broke several tackles to score the Patriots’ sole rushing TD, which covered 40 yards.Running back Romonte Frazier provided two of the Cobras’ main highlights of the evening, scoring with a rushing touchdown and on a long kickoff return.The defenses won the first possessions of the game but Cane Bay’s Austin Sineath recovered a Fort fumble on a punt reception following the Cobras’ first possession. Cane Bay was unable to capitalize and turned the ball over on downs after a failed fake-punt attempt.Fort Dorchester answered with a 61-yard scoring drive, covering most of the way on the ground. Hutchinson capped the drive with a 5-yard TD reception.Cane Bay answered with a 69-yard scoring drive capped by a 10-yard run into the end zone by Frazier. Junior quarterback Bridges Howard, in for the injured Devin Kilgore, had four carries for approximately 30 yards on the drive.The Patriots bounced back with an 85-yard scoring drive. Champaigne had a 22-yard reception to set the Fort up at midfield and a few plays later Murray broke free for his TD run. The Cobra’s blocked the PAT kick and followed with another big special teams’ play.Frazier returned the ensuing kickoff 81 yards into the end zone and Phillip Jackson hit his second PAT kick for the Cobra’s sole lead of the game.But the Patriots gained momentum for good with their next possession. Lineman Cody Meree fielded a short kickoff and returned it 2 yards to the Patriots’ 31. The Fort only needed one play to score as Palmer caught a pass across the middle and dashed 69 yards into the end zone. After a Fort penalty on the first conversion attempt, Garrett ran in for a 21-14 Fort lead.Bailey had a 40-yard punt return late in the second quarter, but the Patriot scoring threat came to an end when Tabarious Hartzog intercepted a Fort pass and the Patriots took a 21-14 lead into the half.The Fort defense didn’t budge much in the second half and the Patriots scored on drives of 31 and 59 yards.Late in the third quarter, Bailey made his TD catch to cap the shorter drive. Then Garrett hit Champaigne for a 6-yard TD pass with 10:16 remaining in the game.

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